Chapter TwentyNine
"I'd rather have thirty minutes of wonderful then a lifetime of nothing
special," Julia Roberts insisted to Sally Field. Lara sniffled and reached
for the tissues. She loved Steel Magnolias. A knock at the door made her
jump.
"Figures," she mumbled, glancing at the clock. Ten-thirty. She looked
through the peephole and gasped. "One second!" Lara yelled, running back
to the bedroom. She threw a robe over her nightshirt and yanked the curlers
out of her hair as fast as humanly possible. "Fuck. Oh fuck. Oh holy
fuck. Ouch! DAMMIT!" She yelled as a curler got stuck. She finally
pulled the last one out and ran a brush through her hair, turning it into a
mass of wavy curls. She ran back to the door and took a deep breath.
Leaving the security chain in, she opened it a crack. "Yes?"
"Lara, hi, um, can we talk?" Nick asked nervously.
"It's ten-thirty at night, Nick. Couldn't this wait?" Lara said, proud of
her calm demeanor.
"I was in the neighborhood and...no...it can't wait. Please?"
Lara sighed. "Stay here. I'm in my pajamas." She slammed the door in his
face and slowly walked back to change. She was in no hurry to talk to him.
She put on a pair of shorts and a Penn State sweatshirt. After taking a few
more breaths, she slowly walked back out, hoping that he was gone. She
wasn't that lucky. "Come on in." She moved aside and let him in.
"Thanks." He sat down on the edge of the sofa. She curled back up on her
recliner. They looked at each other for a long moment. "Um, how have you
been? I saw you on TV the other night. You looked beautiful," Nick said
finally.
"What do you want, Nick?" Lara asked, trying not to notice how nice he
looked in his dark green hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants. Nick
thought for a moment before answering her.
"I wanted to apologize, Lara, for how I treated you. I was in shock after
you told me about the baby...I mean...I'm only twenty years old. What do I
know about kids? I was scared, and said things I didn't mean."
Lara looked at him skeptically, but his blue eyes seemed to shine with
sincerity. "Nick, the way you treated me really hurt. You acted like I was
some kind of slut who was just saying you were the father to get money out
of you." Her blue eyes filled with tears at the memory. "I loved you,
Nick. More than anything. You were the center of my world...and then you
made it quite clear that I was only on the fringes of YOUR world." She
looked him in the eye. "How many other women were there?"
"A few...not like a hundred or anything...a few...five, maybe six," he
mumbled, having the decency to blush. Lara took a deep breath and stood.
"Nick, I accept your apology. Now, I'd appreciate it if you left." She
opened the door and stood beside it. Nick's mouth fell open but he quickly
recovered. This was not what he had expected. He approached her slowly and
she backed up against the wall near the door.
"Lara, can't we talk some more? Maybe we could go out sometime, have
dinner..." Nick smiled down at her, pushing a curl back from her face.
Lara swallowed the lump in her throat. "Nick...no. I..."
"You said you loved me. Is it still past tense?" He cupped her face in his
hand, letting his thumb stroke her cheek. "We had some really fun times
together. It clicked between us...more than any other woman I've been
with."
"Nick...don't..." Lara whispered, desperately trying to fight the way he was
making her body react.
"Don't what?" Nick whispered, letting his lips graze over her earlobe.
"Don't...do...that..." Lara said. "I don't love you anymore."
He pulled back and took her face in both hands, forcing her to look at him.
"Look me in the eye and tell me that."
Lara opened her mouth to answer, and gasped when she saw Howie pop his head
in the door. Howie took one look at Nick pressing Lara up against the wall
and turned around. He walked back down the steps without a word. "Howie!
Wait!" Lara squirmed out of Nick's hold.
"Lara...it's for the best. Now he knows how we really feel about each
other," Nick said soothingly. Lara elbowed him in the side, doubling him
over in pain. She ran down the steps.
"Howie! Howie! Wait!" She didn't notice the pouring rain, even after she
stood in it for ten minutes. She watched helplessly as taillights zoomed
off into the distance. She saw Nick walk to his car but she ignored him.
She watched Howie's car drive away from her and fell to her knees, weeping.
Rain flowed off her now straight hair, sliding down her skin in little
streams, but she didn't care. Howie thought she loved Nick...she chased
Howie away. Wonderful Howie...Howie, the man she felt she could truly love.
He was gone. She sat down hard on the sidewalk and continued to sob.
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By: Lara
© 2000
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Chapter TwentyEight
Chapter Thirty